Fly fishing, post "the movie" took on this mythical concept vice simply being the way many of us have fished for years. It then became another sport that the rich and famous decided they had to participate in and companies saw all that potential income and suddenly everything went up.
Despite Medalist, Lampson, or even Orvis single action reels being fine for what 90+ % of us fish suddenly the complexity and cost of the "must have" gear began to go up. I have nice stuff but for the most part it was all bought 30+ years ago. At the same time, I'm really thankful for breathable waders and better wading boots. The tippet material of today is a far cry better than back in the day and more expensive! Fly lines today are unbelievably expensive but they are so much better than what we had before as well and they last much longer. I think all of mine are at least a decade old.
I was up in NH in July fishing and I realized that much of my stuff is Orvis and it made me think "have I become that which I mock" but then I looked at the stains and nicks and repairs on my rod, reel and my faded vest and figured I had the mileage on it to still look bemused at the streamside fashion plates.
